The influence of match-fixing scandals on online sportsbooks

The world has no shortage of unscrupulous individuals looking to make a quick buck without any consideration for morals and who it’s affecting. This not only impacts those online, but, indeed even some of our favorite athletes on TV, who willingly help out for a kickback or submit to external pressure.

This happens all over the world and more and more such cases are being discovered as time goes on. One of the most negatively affected parties in all of this is sportsbooks. Today, we are going to talk about the harm game-fixing causes them, how prevalent this is, and what’s being done to stop it.

How prevalent is match-fixing?

It’s quite common for fans to complain about referee decisions during a game whether or not it’s justified. It’s very easy for the opposing fans to just call them sour grapes. However, fortunately, in Europe and many countries, authorities investigate suspicious events when they arise and there are independent organizations following corruption. One of these is Sport Radarl which analyzes sports-related phenomena.

According to them, over 2022, 1,212 suspicious matches took place, which was the first year that a thousand cases was eclipsed. The number has trended upward steadily; however, it’s difficult to say whether this is due to more corruption or greater game interest in Europe. What they do is track data points in sports, including 30 billion odds changes from over 600 betting contours every year.

They’ve discovered the vast majority of fixed matches in sports betting were soccer matches, as it’s the world’s most popular sport with the most matches played. Outside of that, the total suspicious games in all other sports tripled from 130 in 2019 to 437 in 2022. With such a leap, it cannot be attributed to closer observation or more total betting.

Region	Suspicious Matches
Europe	630
Africa	93
Latin America	225
North America	24
Asia	240

Breakdown by sport:

Sport	Cases
Soccer	775
Basketball	220
Baseball	75
Table Tennis	62
Esports	36
Cricket	13
Hockey	11
Total	1,212

How match-fixing destroys sportsbooks

Match fixing hampers a sport’s and league’s popularity by tarnishing their image and destroying people’s faith in the game. This makes fewer people watch and bet in the future. However, for sportsbooks, the damage cuts far deeper in terms of financial, reputational, and operation costs. This industry heavily relies on trust and people parting with their money after a shady event will cause people to start pointing fingers.

How sportsbooks take bets

Sportsbooks accept bets on all sorts of game items and it’s a smaller profit margin than casinos enjoy, which have a much greater control of the RTP due to simply being able to program it. By contrast, bookies have to rely on their knowledge to strike a middle ground between what they predict will be both sides of the bet. Bettors typically pay bookies in the form of a “vig”, also known as the juice or the commission. The vig is a percentage of the wagered amount, the average of which is typically about 5%. They keep this as their fee for facilitating a bet.

Common bets are placed on the point spread for instance, which is who is expected to win and by how many points. That means that with a spread of +3, the underdog is expected to lose by 3 points, so if someone bets on the underdog and they lose but only by 3 points, the bettor still wins. On the contrary, betting on the favorite would require the team to win by more than 3 points for the bettor to win.

In moneyline bets, you bet a hundred dollars and if you bet on the favorite, you get back your hundred dollars plus winnings in an amount less than the 100 dollars you bet. Your winnings are determined by the odds offered; however, it will be less than the amount you bet. If you win by betting on the underdog, that means your winnings on top of the 100 you bet will be more than your bet back, minus the vig.

Walking a tight rope

Thus, when anomalies take place, a sportsbook is on thin ice. If a player is paid money to either cover or not cover a spread and his accomplice bettor has arranged this in advance, that would allow both to bet a serious amount of money and absolutely ruin the bookmaker without the ability to prove there was a fix. For that reason, bookies have a substantial interest in preventing corruption.

Varieties of match-fixing schemes

There are many different ways that betting corruption can manifest in a game.

Player’s financial incentive: they may appear to “happen to have a bad game” when in reality they’ve received a kickback. This involves them throwing too many balls or accidentally kicking the ball into a goal or even letting points happen at times coordinated with the other team, since entire leagues are built around this sometimes. They could also be doing a favor for a friend or family member, encouraging them to bet against them.
Player coercion: players that owe drug money can be forced to fix a bet for their drug dealer, as was revealed with the cocaine-addicted New York Nicks in the 1980s. In other cases, a player may be under threat or blackmailed with information, for instance, that they’d cheated on their wife or committed a crime. Michael Francheze, the former mob boss, told a story of how he’d have bookies get players who liked to gamble deeper and deeper in debt, and then force them to repay their debts by shaving points or face reprisal.
Micro bet corruption: Not all betting has to be on the winner or the loser. If a player wins but not by too many points, they can still win a bet even if they bet against themselves, but on top of that, you can bet on the first player to score a goal or whether a foul happens in the first period of a game. These smaller-time bets are much harder to detect.
Referee corruption: they can make a bad call or look the other way when a foul happens in order to help one of the teams win. They can pull a red card on the other team’s players. They can decide to stop calling holding in an American football match to let one quarterback have all day to pass.
Trainers and coordinators: can engage in strategies to make their team lose.
League manipulation: sometimes, in order to generate greater interest from the fans (higher ratings), a league can help a star player win at a certain time by instructing the referees to call a game in their favor.

Counteracting match-fixing

In response to the growing threat of match-fixing, both regulatory bodies and sportsbooks have taken significant steps to safeguard the integrity of sports and protect bettors as well as themselves. This is a multi-layered fight – combining technology, international cooperation, data analytics, and legal enforcement.

Major sportsbooks now maintain internal integrity units – specialized teams focused on identifying, investigating, and reporting suspected match-fixing. These teams often work with former law enforcement officers, sports officials, and data analysts to trace activity and collaborate with external bodies when red flags arise. In fact, in many jurisdictions, sportsbooks are required to report such incidents, such as the UK Gambling Commission. Countries like Australia, France, and Germany enforce very strict licensing conditions which include integrity monitoring and cooperation.

Some sportsbooks and leagues invest in education programs aimed at athletes, referees, and coaches.

Author Profile

Adam Regan: Deputy Editor

Features and account management. 3 years media experience. Previously covered features for online and print editions.

Email Adam@MarkMeets.com